Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L., 2n=2x=12) is an economically important green leafy vegetable and belongs to the Amaranthaceae family in the order Caryophyllales.
Spinach is native to central Asia in Iran (Persia) and introduced to China around 600 A.D., then spread to northern Europe around 1100 A.D. by Spain. Today more than
60 countries are cultivating spinach with China being the leading country in spinach production, accounting for more than 90% of the annual worldwide gross production.
Spinach is commonly used as a salad, a cooked vegetable or as an ingredient in fresh or cooked meat and vegetable dishes. It is increasing in popularity because of its
enrichment in many essential nutrients, including carotenoids, folate, vitamin C, calcium and iron. Despite its economic significance, the genome resource of spinach
currently is very limited. Early in 2013, two groups of scientists from Shanghai Normal University and Boyce Thompson Institute started to collected valuable spinach
resources worldwide and aimed to create genome and transcriptome resources for spinach research and improvement.